


I Did It For You

by maria_eshu



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-25
Updated: 2017-06-25
Packaged: 2018-11-18 16:26:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11294385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maria_eshu/pseuds/maria_eshu
Summary: This is after Lar's Head, and before any newer episodes have come out, and it's just one theory of how Pink Diamond was shattered. I *might* decide to adjust it later depending on what happens and what they do and don't show. Maybe. Or I'll just leave it as an AU version of what happened. :D





	I Did It For You

            Pearl crouched by Steven’s bed, watching his chest rise and fall and he slept. Lion was curled on the end of the bed, pinning Steven’s legs down.

            _Normally I’d make it move to the floor, but anything to keep him here, and safe…_

            Pearl turned to look at Lion, then reached towards his mane. _Would it work for me to enter him, or would it take Steven to activate his mane as a portal?_ She wondered, but her hand stopped short.

            Homeworld, only moments away. The off-colors, with no-one but donut boy to lead them to the haven of Earth.

            She remembered Steven’s face as he had turn back to board Aquamarine’s ship, the grim determination, the guilt he carried.

            _I have to tell him._ Pearl thought. _Even if it changes how he looks at me forever, even if he hates me for letting him carry this all this time, I have to tell him. I have to tell everyone. It’s not just my secret anymore, Rose. It’s not just between us when it’s hurting him._

Lion lifted his massive head and looked at her.

            Pearl turned away from his gaze, and took a spinning leap from the loft, landing lightly near the warp pad.

            “I need to think.” She said quietly to herself as she walked to the Temple door. Her corresponding gem embedded in the door lit up and the door hummed with power. She leaned on it, looking at Rose’s corresponding gem sadly. She pressed her hand into it.

            “Oh Rose,” Pearl said, “If only you could tell me what to do.” The door shifted open, and Pearl’s room was beyond, pools of water cascading this way and that, an aura of peace beckoning her.

When she stepped in, she could feel the environment she’d spent centuries honing doing its magic, calming her nerves. But the turmoil inside didn’t ease.

            Pearl walked stepped into the pool of water, letting herself sink into it. Even fully immersed she didn’t feel much better. She rose out of the water, and looked down from the giant waterfall podium she had traveled to, glancing towards the door.

Amethyst was in her room, probably sleeping atop some messy pile of garbage, _Perhaps I could talk to her first_. Pearl thought, _As a trial, work out how to tell Steven, how to deal with Garnet…oh no, Garnet. She’ll never forgive me... and it’s not Amethyst’s burden to bear._

Pearl raised up one hand, shaking the other Crystal Gems from her thoughts. A circle of swords raised up around her, spinning until one particular sword hovered in front of her.

            She took it in her hand, remembering.

 

            The Forge  
Bismuth was excited. And when Bismuth was excited, it was impossible not to be infected by her sentiment. She kept turning back to look at them, grinning and laughing.

            “Rose, you’ll love this!” Bismuth said, “It’ll really change the tides of this war! It’s time we win some battles for a change!”

            “All right.” Rose said, her amusement making her voice trill, “I’m always excited to see your creations, Bismuth.” Rose swept forward, leaving Pearl in her wake, and hurrying to walk next to Bismuth on the trial.

            “Is the surprise element entirely necessary?” Pearl called out, hurrying to catch up, but remaining a pace behind. The path was only wide enough for the two larger gems to walk astride.

            “If we knew what you were making,” Pearl chided, “It would be easier to plan the strategy for the upcoming battle, you know.” Her criticism held no bite though, Bismuth’s enthusiasm was infectious, so much so that Pearl didn’t even feel the any jealousy at being left to walk behind the others, secondary to the conversation.

            _Well, perhaps the slightest bit of jealousy._ Pearl thought, _But of Bismuth or Rose? They’re both so… Of course, Rose is my world, but Bismuth…that smile, those shoulders…_

“You two ready?” Bismuth said, turning to grin broadly at them before shifting her hand into a key and shoving it into the rock face they had stopped in front of.

            “We are the Crystal Gems.” Pearl said, “We’re ready for everything.”

            “Well,” Bismuth said as the door caved inward and opened. “What I’ve got here is going make a real _impact_ on the war.” She chuckled at her own joke, and Pearl and Rose exchanged a look. Rose smiled and shrugged helplessly.

            _So it’s an impact weapon, not a cutting weapon._ Pearl thought, _Perhaps something explosive?_

Once in the forge, Bismuth got right to the point, leading them to a weapon that sat dramatically on an anvil.

            It was cumbersome looking, and resembled a giant drill bit at the end, with straps to hold it presumably onto an arm. It didn’t look very effective for hand to hand combat, but Pearl knew Bismuth had something special in store for them, so she waited.

            “I call it the Breaking Point.” Bismuth said. “I can make more of them, or make similar weapons now that I have the material just right.” She picked it up and held it out to Rose. Rose took it and looked it over, strapping it onto her arm with Bismuth’s help.

            “How does it work?” Rose said. “What does it do?”

            “Clench your fist there, no more like…like that, and it will take out any Gem’s physical form from point blank range in one hit, like a disruptor only faster. Set the edge against their gem, and it’ll end them.”

            “End them?” Pearl asked, watching as Rose’s eyes widened. “You mean crack their gem?”

            “Shatter them. Even a diamond!” Bismuth said. “This will turn the tides, if we can take out their leaders, their generals, the diamonds, we can free Gems across the universe-”

            “No.” Rose said. Pearl looked up at her startled. Roses’ eyes were dark, shrouded in shadow. The Breaking Point hung loosely at her side. “You’ve taken this too far, Bismuth. I won’t shatter a gem. None of us will, that isn’t what we are about.”

            “What?” Bismuth said, aghast, “This needs to be about winning, about freeing gems everywhere from the tyranny of the diamonds! What do you think _they_ are doing to _our_ troops when they capture them? What do you think they’ll do to you? To Pearl?”

            Pearl felt both Bismuth’s and Rose’s gaze on her, she flushed and looked away. _Bismuth has a point. If it’s shatter or be shattered…_

_“_ If we don’t use every advantage,” Bismuth said, “we’ll lose, and we’ll all be shattered, and the Earth and everything living here will be destroyed. They’ve got numbers, they got technological advantages. The humans that fight with us are dying by the droves already. You stand to lose everything you seek to protect!”

            “We’ll find another way.” Rose said, her voice carrying the command that brought thousands together for their cause.

            “But Rose-”

            “I said we’ll find another way!” Rose Quartz raised her voice, summoning her shield. As it materialized it sliced away the leather straps that bound the breaking point to her arm, and the weapon clanged to the ground echoing through the Forge.

            Bismuth’s face fell. _I’ve never seen her look so defeated._ Pearl thought.

            Rose turned and strode out without another word. Pearl found herself frozen in place, torn between following Rose and speaking with Bismuth. Pearl turned toward Bismuth, and found a new look on Bismuth’s face, a grim determination that she’d seen enough to know what it meant.

            “You plan to use it yourself, don’t you?” Pearl said after the door to the forge slammed shut behind Rose.

            “I’ll never make it near enough to a Diamond.” Bismuth said. Then she turned to Pearl, her eyes widening.

            “But you can.”

            “What?” Pearl said, taking step back.

            “You used to belong to Pink Diamond. And you’re a Pearl. You can walk right up to Pink’s palenqiun without being noticed. Get her to talk to you…”

            “With a weapon like that?”

            “I’ll make you something lighter, a sword…”

            “Bismuth, you heard Rose.” Pearl protested. “I could never betray her.”

            “Not even to save her?” Bismuth prompted. Pearl hesitated. “Do you think we’ll win this next battle? As Rose’s top strategist, you tell me, what are our odds?”

            “Not…great.” Pearl replied reluctantly.

            “What will they do to her when they catch her?” Bismuth asked, advancing on Pearl, “Her high morals and ideals don’t let her be a shatterer, and maybe she’s right, it’s not what the revolution stands for. As a leader, she can’t do this thing, or condone it. But as soldiers, you and I must do what the revolution needs. Even if Rose can’t. Especially if Rose can’t.” Bismuth leaned down to meet Pearls eyes, placing a giant hand on Pearl’s slight shoulder.

            “You know I’m right.” She said, “I know you, Pearl, you’d do anything to protect her. Isn’t that what you really live for?”

            Pearl didn’t reply, but she reached up and placed her hand on Bismuths. She felt something shift, something changing. Her fate perhaps? She would be shattered for this surely. It would be her last act. But if it would save Rose, that was all that mattered.

 

            _Oh, Rose, you didn’t know. You didn’t know I was there on the battlefield when Bismuth showed up with the Breaking Point. I was there when you cut her down, bubbled her, and sent her away. Everyone else was busy fighting, but I saw. I knew. I heard Bismuth’s last words to you. “Your too late, Rose. It’s already happening.” I reached the palanquin before you, a Pearl slipping through the crowds of elite gems unnoticed where you would have had to fight your way through. I mounted the steps, greeted by Pink Diamond’s Pearl, a little thing, shiny and new. I told her to pass a message on to Pink Diamond._

_“My Diamond_!” _I said, “I’ve seen the error of my betrayal, but before you shatter me, let me share this important intelligence with you. It is imperative that you hear it before it’s too late!”_

_Pink Diamond stepped forward, came down from her Palanquin, and I felt you then Rose. I felt you jumping down from the sky above, falling to the ground, landing silently behind me. I know your scent, your shadow, your gem’s glow. I knew my moment was at hand. I leapt forward, Bismuth’s special sword piercing Pink Diamond’s gem as your own sword pierced my chest. The reverberation from my sword up my arm might have disrupted my form, but it was your sword, through where my heart would be, if I had one, that dissipated me._  
  
            When I reformed we were in a cave halfway across the continent. Your back was to me. I wanted to call out to you, but my voice caught in my throat. 

_“Their own prejudice blinded them to the truth. They didn’t notice a pearl.” You said. “They saw me with my sword, and they saw Pink Diamond shatter.”_

_“Rose…” I managed weakly._

_“We’ll walk out this cave and never speak of this again. Not to Garnet, not to anyone. I shattered Pink Diamond.”_

_“But Rose, it was me…I, I can’t let you take respon-”_

_“No-one from Homeworld will believe it, and if they did…they wouldn’t stop until they took you from me. Our own army would reject you, prosecute you for going against my orders. Against everything we believe in. ”_

_You turned towards me, your eyes wet with tears._

_“I need you at my side Pearl.” You said, your voice breaking, “You betrayed me, I don’t know when I’ll trust you again, but I need you.”_

_My heart broke for you. I would have shattered my gem myself if I thought it would have helped. “They would have won.” I said, “They would have shattered you. I did it for you, Rose.”_

            “I did it for you.” Pearl’s hands shook as she tried to replace the sword in the circle with the others. The memories hung heavy on her like a wet garment, the sword was crooked, and no matter how many times Pearl tried to fix it, it didn’t sit quite right. Finally. she grabbed it, and threw it across the room with all her might, it clattered against the far wall and fell.

            Pearl let herself sink back into the water, wishing she could flee to the bottom of the ocean like Lapis.

            _This secret needs to come to light. If Garnet hates me, if Homeworld comes for me now, it doesn’t matter._ Pearl thought, letting the water encompass her. _Rose needs me. Steven needs me. The Earth needs me._


End file.
